Who wants to make absentee voting easier in Michigan?

The effort to allow any Michigan voter to request an absentee ballot may be close to critical mass in the state Senate. That’s as more Republicans are accepting the idea that anyone who wants to mail in or drop off their ballot should be allowed to without having to lie to do it.

(Support trusted journalism like this in Michigan. Give what you can here.)

The rule right now in Michigan is that, unless you’re a senior citizen, physically handicapped or expect to be out of town on Election Day, you’re expected to show up at the polls on Election Day.

So, right now, people who want to vote absentee but don’t fit into one of those categories are just lying.

“We are talking about a small change to encourage people, not to have to lie, whether or not they’ll be in town. I think it just encourages people to get out there,” Republican state Senator Wayne Schmidt told It’s Just Politics. Schmidt is sponsoring a bill to allow no-reason absentee voting in Michigan.

Eleven Republicans and seven Democrats in the state Senate (that’s almost a majority in that chamber) have co-sponsored bills to allow no-reason absentee voting. But, this is not a done deal.

It's Just Politics with Zoe Clark and Rick Pluta

That’s because there is a Republican version and a Democratic version of the legislation - representing the classic divide between Rs and Ds when it comes to making voting easier.

Democrats are focused on access: making it easier for more people to vote. Republicans tend to focus more on security, and ensuring that only people who are supposed to vote get to.

The Republican plan would continue to require people to show up at their clerk’s office and show an ID to get an absentee ballot. Democrats, on the other hand, would let any registered voter request an absentee ballot by mail. No trip to the clerk’s office to show your ID. That bill is being sponsored by state Senator Steve Bieda.

“You’re a US citizen. You have a right to vote just by submitting this affidavit. It goes to your legal address, and you have an opportunity and a right to vote from the convenience of your home,” Bieda told It’s Just Politics.

So, no deal yet. And we have yet to see the Republican leadership in the state Senate or the state House sign on.

Meantime, we should point out that Michigan is becoming more and more of an outlier on this. Twenty-seven states allow no-reason absentee voting and three states actually mail a ballot to every registered voter. Whether they ask for one or not.

We’ll see if the Michigan Legislature can resolve this... so we can start arguing about voting on the Internet.

Related Content

What’s a Republican governor to do when his own political party is the problem?

We’re hearing a lot about the divide among Republicans in D.C. over the “repeal and replacement” of Obamacare.

President Donald Trump and the House Republican leadership have a plan. But, conservatives don’t like it. Democrats don’t like it. Interest groups like the AARP are already piling on, and let’s add to the list: Republican governors like Ohio Governor John Kasich and Michigan’s own Rick Snyder.

(Support trusted journalism like this in Michigan. Give what you can here.)

In elections, it’s all about who shows up.

And last year, Democrats didn’t.

The Democrats’ historic loss in Michigan is due pretty much to the fact that too many voters who would typically vote Democratic simply sat out Election 2016. While Republicans, true to form, showed up at the polls.

State House Speaker Tom Leonard (R-DeWitt) is figuring out his next move after his income tax rollback tanked in the House last week. It was an embarrassing defeat largely the result of putting the bill up before the Speaker knew the votes were there. And he ran into a hard-dozen fellow Republicans who, along with all but one of the Democrats, torpedoed what was supposed to be a marquee moment in the early days of this session.